3 expert insights for managing mental health in an ambitious company

Startups are expected to foster dynamic, high-performance cultures. At the same time, they’re also told they need a culture of progressive, positive attitudes towards mental health. Balancing these ideas can feel like walking a tightrope — especially if you’re working with a small team, where every employee is absolutely indispensable.

Part 1 of 3 articles on mental health in the workplace. Access the full Performance Series of 20 articles here.

In the typical workplace, it’s incredibly difficult to be open and honest about your mental health, or to ask for a break for mental health reasons. Even today, in businesses large and small, from start-up to conglomerate, mental health struggles exist in the workplace. As a team leader, acknowledging the importance of mental health and a willingness to address them in a positive and constructive way is a vital first step to building a healthier and more productive work environment and creating a space where your team feel they can be open.

But creating such a space can be tricky. To illuminate the way towards developing an honest and supportive workplace, I spoke to four friends and leaders in the mental health start-up sector and asked for some key pieces of advice.

Help them open up, but don’t play at being a therapist

Gavin Dhesi, the co-founder of Spill, a message-based therapy service which organisations can use to make sure their employees are getting the support they need to deal with the problems in their lives.

“You’re not their therapist or their counsellor. You’re someone they work with. The complexities of each individual’s mental health are so varied that giving advice is at best hit-or-miss, and at worst, downright dangerous. Ask questions, gain information and be there for them”.

It’s important that your team know that they are in a space that welcomes discussion on mental health, and feel they will be supported rather than penalised for coming to you with the fact that they are struggling. Refer them to professionals, ensure they know where and how to seek constructive and accessible support from appropriate, and qualified sources.

Acknowledge and validate the reality they’re living through

Laura Stembridge, CEO of an on-demand mental health therapy platform for businesses, delivered as an employee benefit.

“We need to move away from cordoning off “mental health” and “physical health”. We now know that plenty of conditions — such as eczema or IBS — can be linked to mental triggers. We need to move to a more holistic understanding: health is health”.

In the same way that a broken leg needs a physio to help rebuild its strength, identify the right people to help understand what’s required. Be prepared that a sensible option may involve a period of time off — from short stints which last less than a week, to considerably longer periods where they can really focus on recovery.

Trust your team to be honest

James Routledge, founder of Sanctus. Sanctus is a startup on a mission to inspire people to treat mental health like physical health, and create spaces in the workplace for people to work on their mental health with Sanctus Coaches.

“If people are lying about their mental health problems to get time off, then you have some issues, some big issues. Most people are good people and do not want to do that. If you, the employer, think that’s what people will do, then you have some real trust issues yourself.”

“A core component of any well functioning business or team is trust and psychological safety. Talking about mental health in the workplace is aligned to showing vulnerability and creating intimacy and deep connections at work — also known as highly functional teams.”

Everyone is different, and every case is unique, so we mustn’t pretend there is a blanket solution.

It’s important to listen and build a greater sense of trust between you and your team members, rather than jumping the gun and seeking out a fix immediately. By finding out and trying to understand what they’re going through, you’ll encourage them to be open enough to seek help and find a constructive way forwards. This could be anything from taking the afternoon off to seeing a therapist to booking an extended sick leave to manage stress levels. Feel free to ask for a doctor’s note if that helps put you and the company at ease, but with any luck trust will be a two way street.

Openness, trust and the ability to truly listen to the mental health issues your team may be struggling are some of the key cornerstones in developing a workplace that fosters a positive attitude towards mental health, and is key to maximising the productivity of your team for greater performances from each individual and team overall. Encouraging managers and team members alike to recognise the importance of their mental health and that of their team members is crucial to the survival and success of your team and your company. Effectively managing scenarios of stress and anxiety should start before the problems arise, by building a candid and open culture around mental health in your workplace.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this post!

Rob O’Donovan is aco-founder and the CEO of CharlieHR — a revolutionary HR platform for small businesses, and a writer and curator of ‘The Workspace’- a weekly newsletter and blog for building a great place to work and managing high performance teams.

Sign up for the newsletter if you’re a team leader looking to support the growth and development of a high performance team, through building a great place to work.